Currently methods of decorative, indirect interior or exterior lighting are often expensive, difficult to install and aesthetically unappealing. Methods exist for hanging strings of lights with hooks, clasps, and other similar devices. These systems often leave the wiring exposed and are not a visually attractive method of installing lighting.
Previous solutions to the need for indirect lighting involve complicated fluorescent lighting fixtures. Fluorescent apparatus are limited by the characteristics of fluorescent lighting, because fluorescent bulbs are mass-produced in limited sizes and the bulbs are rigid. Those considerations restrict the configurations available for decorative elements. Fluorescent lamps are relatively fragile and require substantial space surrounding the bulbs. Space is needed to insert or replace the lamps after the crown molding has been installed.
Light ropes are strings of small incandescent light bulbs within tubes of flexible material. Current methods of installing light ropes are inadequate due to the tendency of the light rope to sag in locations where there is no hook or other means of attachment to a surface. Additionally, light ropes that are viewed directly are not appropriate for every decorating scheme.
Needs exist for decorative indirect lighting methods and apparatus that are inexpensive and simple to install that add to the aesthetic appeal of a building.